Kantara Chapter 1 ~ Movie Review | A Near-Perfect Cinematic Experience
So finally, I have completed watching the Kantara Chapter 1 movie. Yes, I know I’m a bit late because I didn’t get time earlier. I should have watched this movie in the morning. But still, I’ve watched it now. So, let me tell you, is this movie better than Chapter One? And after watching the trailer, I had praised it a lot, saying, oh, this movie could turn out like this or like that. Did it turn out that way or not? And how much money can it earn in the end? We’ll talk about all of this.
Movie Details
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Kantara: Chapter 1 |
| Release | 2025 |
| Director | Rishab Shetty |
| Genre | Action, Thriller (Also described as Period Mythological Action Drama) |
| Duration | 2h 48m (168 minutes) |
| IMDb Rating | 8.8 out of 10 |
First, let’s talk about the story without spoilers.
Story Overview
In this, we get to see a story from a long time ago, where a battle between two kingdoms is shown. On one side is Kantara, and on the other side is the villain’s kingdom, whose name I’m forgetting. There’s a very old conflict between these two. So, what happens in the end, you’ll have to see in the movie. I won’t say much because it will fall into spoiler territory, and it will ruin your fun. If I say even a little, the story might get spoiled. That’s why I won’t tell you.
The main point is, how is the movie overall? How is the movie’s story? How are the movie’s VFX and CGI? How is the movie’s action? Because if you’ve seen the first part of Kantara, at the end when Deva made an entry, we got to see some absolutely stunning action scenes. We saw some fantastic things. So, do we get to see something like that in this one or not? Let’s talk about all of it.
First, let’s talk about the positives.
Positive Aspects
The cinematography of this movie, I liked it as much in the trailer, and I had said back then too, the cinematography is stunning, and in the movie, as it is, you get to see equally stunning cinematography. Every scene is soothing to the eyes. When the jungle scenes come, oh, it’s a joy to watch them. Along with that, the way the kingdom has been designed, the way the market has been designed, the way the port has been designed, all of it looks very good to watch.
A question came to my mind, why didn’t they show it even grander? Maybe the reason could be that the kingdom they’re fighting against isn’t that big. When we think of a kingdom, we imagine, oh, it must be as big as India. But earlier, there used to be very small kingdoms too. So, for that reason, all those things, all those settings of that time, have been shown very well in this movie. So, I would definitely give the cinematography 9 out of 10. From costume design to every single thing, it looks absolutely perfect.
Now let’s talk about whether its VFX and CGI are good or not.
Technical Aspects
I found its VFX and CGI quite good. As good as this movie could have been made in a 125-crore budget, it has definitely been made that well. There’s no lack in the technical aspects of this movie. The VFX and CGI scenes in the movie look quite good. In some scenes, yes, when the character is in motion, you can tell a little, but honestly, it doesn’t make much of a difference.
When the emotions of the movie come to the forefront, and when grand things come up in the movie, we just fold our hands and say, oh brother, what have they shown. Literally, there are many such scenes in the movie. There’s one scene primarily where the majority of people just folded their hands, saying, oh, what have they shown, because it looked so stunning. It was there for a short while, but it was very good.
We’re talking about the Kantara movie, and if we don’t talk about action, that just can’t happen, and I must say, compared to the first part, which was its first part, you get to see a lot more action in this movie, and what stunning action you get to see. Initially, when the movie starts, I feel, what are these people showing? I mean, is this movie really about Kantara, because you start doubting what Rishabh Shetty has made? Why did they create comedy here?
But when the movie enters the second half, the movie, which was normal before, becomes divine. Then a lot of supernatural things start happening, and watching them is just enjoyable, and the stakes just keep rising and rising, and that’s where the real fun comes. The first half is fun too. In the first half, the story is set up. There’s some good comedy there too. But in the second half, the movie gets serious, and the intensity keeps increasing. That’s where we get to see an explosion of action.
There’s a scene where Deva makes an entry for the first time, you must watch it, it’s so enjoyable in the second half, and after that, it feels like, oh, there wasn’t anything like this in the first part of Kantara, so it’s even more, and as the movie progresses, it keeps getting bigger. So, the action is stunning in this movie, and more than the action, even if we judge a movie on any number of parameters, if a movie can emotionally connect with people, that’s a big deal.
The Mahavatar Narsimha movie was very good because it could emotionally connect with people. It had value, and you’ll get to see something similar in this one. Whenever the scenes with God or Deva come, I told you about one scene, primarily one scene, that scene was so stunning, so stunning that people just folded their hands for a moment, it was a very powerful scene.
So, this movie is filled with all these things. And these things are indeed very good. Along with that, there’s another very stunning scene, after watching which I would say, brother, all the actors in the world should hold Rishabh Shetty’s feet and take tuition from him, asking, brother, how do you do such stunning acting. When the Deva scene comes, that’s fine. But after that, another scene comes. The acting you get to see from Rishabh Shetty there, you won’t believe it yourself. For a moment, you’ll start doubting, has Deva really come here, because it feels so realistic. It looks so stunning. So, the movie is filled with all these things.
Negative Aspects
Now let’s talk about the negatives, because there are negatives in this movie too. The movie had a lot of potential. But in this movie, it gets a bit messy. Now, don’t take it too negatively. Hear me out first. It gets messy in the sense that they had to show politics, mythology, history. Along with that, they had to do a bit of comedy, show a bit of love and romance. In trying to show so many things, the movie seems to wander a bit. Not too much, but it seems to wander a little. Because of this, it couldn’t explore its full potential.
Along with that, a big question comes to mind: the hero is very powerful. But is the villain powerful? Think about it yourself, if Thanos in Avengers: Endgame or Avengers: Infinity War wasn’t so powerful, the movie wouldn’t have been as enjoyable as it should have been, and you feel something similar here, where the villain should have been shown as even stronger, they succeeded in that, but they should have shown him a bit stronger.
While watching the movie, for a moment, when the movie was ending, I thought, okay, this is Chapter One. That means the next story will be shown in Chapter Two. But no, they finished its story in this one. Now in Chapter Two, we’ll be shown a different story. What will that story be? I can’t say right now. I could tell you, but I feel it will go into spoiler territory, because what I saw at the end of the movie gives a slight idea of what might happen in the second part. That’s why I’ll say, watch it yourself. Then you’ll understand it better.
Final Words
Overall, my opinion about this movie is that it’s a must-watch movie, definitely a must-watch movie. Along with that, I’ll also say it could have been improved a bit, but ignore that. At this time, no matter how many movies I watch, whether in theaters or released on OTT, no movie comes close to this one. That’s why you can go watch this movie with your entire family. There’s love and romance shown in it, but it’s within limits. So, it won’t make any difference as such. And that’s why, if you want, you can definitely go watch this movie with your entire family.
I will definitely rate this movie 8.5 out of 10, because I really liked the movie, and because of the technical aspects, your eyes just light up, it looks so good. It’s a must-watch, definitely watch it.
Movie Trailer
@rinice, I'm refunding 0.040 HIVE and 0.005 HBD, because there are no comments to reward.